New body sculpted from epoxy/bondo
 

I've been working on making my real-life car into a Bit body.
I modeled a Buick Regal in a 3d modeling program, flattened it out, printed it on thin card board, cut out/assembled the cardboard model, used 2 part epoxy by "painting" it on the cardboard model with a brush (several layers) then sanded and filed it down.
I would say I'm at least 75% done. Then I'm going to make my other car (Ford Explorer), then I'll move on to some "cooler" bodies. ;)

Oh, and here some pics of the begining stages.

whoa, thats cool!

doode thats interesting
i like the staight lines..cant wait till its all sanded and neat
btw, how sturdy is it?
even though putty is hard, a weak/thin area will total your car...
like real life hahaha

but hope thats just a show body :D

MTL,
It's very sturdy stuff and I've filed most of it down to about the same thickness as a factory shell. It's very light-weight and race worthy, so yeah, I'm gonna race it and show it off.

AJFoot,
Excellent job! Looks really good!
To be able to make your own bodies, that's so cool! :cool:

Seems to me it's a really time consuming process. It's worth it though just to get that "special body".

Can't wait to see it finished! :D

Could you give a how-to & materials list sometime?
Keep up the excellent work.

Drive WRX,
Yes, it's a very time consuming process. At this stage I probably have between 20 and 30 hours invested in this, not including modeling in a 3d program. However I just got a dremel tool and it's shaved off alot of time spent sanding by hand.
I'll try to put together a how-to tutorial of sorts when I'm finished with this car.

I've made a little more progress and I got ahead of myself and shot some color on my custom body just to see how its going to look. I still need to do some fine sanding and put in the windows and headlight lenses.., so it should only be about 3 or 4 more months! LOL!
BTW all I have to take pics is a crappy webcam, so please excuse the PhotoShop-ed images. It seemed to help though. :o

:eek: Dang, that's niiiiice!

Yeah that is pretty cool but check out this:D
Whatcha think? I made it out of epoxy and i just finished painting it!

Should I lift it or drop it? It aint a bit char-g. I am puttin led headlamps on but I cant find any L.E.Ds could i just use christmas tree lights??? oh yeah I got an Rx-7 body that had decals on it and I took them off and they left glue all over the car is it ruined or how can I get it off?

rs2000, you should use WD-40 to get rid of the glue from the stickers, but you have to clean off the WD-40 after....

Great work AJFoot! Please keep us updated on this project! :)

I sure will. ;)

And heres a tip for anybody doing a project like this:
Have patience and don't rush things by painting your car too early because it will set you back a few hours if you still need to sand body lines. You see, hobby/model paint doesn't sand too nice when it's still tacky. What a mess! but I'm back on track and should be done sometime this weekend.

Awesome work man! (But you should've done a '87 Regal Grand National ;) )
My son got a Hot Wheels "car factory" for xmas.
I wonder if homemade molds can be made to make custom Bit bodies........

I might get around to making a GN. I love those cars. Late 70s- early 80s Cutlass, Monte Carlos, Regals, T-Birds, Trans Ams 60s Mustangs... any kind of American sports sedan type body, I'm going to look into making.
The car factory, yeah I'll have to look into that. I want to make some type of mold. I've got some ideas- would be harder than sculpting bodies, but If I could come up with something that you could just pour epoxy into and it would make some kind of "blank" car body, then the finish sculpting and sanding could be done. This could save time in the longrun.
Anyway back to the current project... I'm getting there. I've added the headlights and the side mirrors that still need to be shaped. Just need the windows which I plan to make out of clear plastic (Kit Racer packages should work for this) and just glue in before the final coat. Then a Cat5 antenna mod and small rear wheel mod to the 45Mhz clone chassis I'm using for this and moving on to the next project.
Oh yeah! and staples going vertical for the front grill. The real Regal GS has a painted front grill, but this things going have a crome-looking grill.

Nice work so far,

anyways, try looking at this website for moldmaking, and instead of pouring plastic into the molds, you can pour epoxy.

By the way, how did you make the lines on your hood?

What website? Did you mean here TinyRC?
I added the lines with a combination of: the point of a small file and a nail.

Can't wait to see the finished product. You will need a proper "3.8" motor for it though. :cool: :D

Oops! Forgot the link.......

http://www.hirstarts.com/moldmake/moldmaking.html

how about a vacuum mold
 

i got the vacuum molding machine. im looking for some hotwheels to drop into it to see how they come out. if all goes well i should be able to make just about any type of car... minus the paint.. just clear bodys. like the lexan or poly bodys for the larger r/c's

Re: how about a vacuum mold
 

Let us know how this works out.

t-squared,
Thanks for that link. I'm going to look into trying some of that stuff with the mold making.

I wrote up a kind of a how-to and guidelines for this project.

Parts and Materials:
2 part epoxy resin- sold in hobby shops, hardware stores... Avoid the stuff sold in a double syringe type tube (I can't seem to get the right amounts out of these!) And remember this stuff doubles as glue.
Bondo or auto body filler (optional) - you don't want to use this for the main mass of material for your body, just meant for evening out surfaces and air holes that might have developed in your resin.
Primer- I use an automotive lacquer primer that is sand able. Avoid using lacquer on most plastics including factory Bit bodies. It melts plastic! Ok on the epoxy.
Your favorite hobby or model paint- use light coats like recommended and use a clear coat on top for a glossy finish
Masking tape and/or clear cellophane (Scotch) tape- for masking and for holding together parts of your body etc.
Light cardboard- if you plan on making a paper model first to apply the epoxy to. Make sure it can go through your printer if you plan on using the technique of designing your model on your computer.

Tools Misc:
Small needle files or hobby files- I got a set of 10 different shapes from a hobby store for 7 bucks. These are the most valuable tools for this project!
Exacto/Hobby knife-this comes in handy for general trimming and shaving also for cutting out you cardboard model.
Nails, screws and other pokers and scrapers found around the house.
Sandpaper

Optional Tools:
Computer and 3d and/or 2d paint program - You're on your own for this!
Dremel/rotory tool- useful for general drilling, sanding, and tooling of your epoxy body, but be careful. This is very small stuff you're working on and nothing can ruin an afternoon like an out of control Dremel!
Clamps hobby vises- for holding things or clamping pieces together for gluing. I got a cool little plastic vise at the dollar store- comes in handy.

I'll just start after your paper model has been designed, cut out and assembled. Make sure the paper model fits your Bit chassis. The only other thing about using a paper model is: it doesn't have to be too perfect or too detailed just a basic shape is all that's needed. It's just a form to apply the epoxy to.
The epoxy I use is about the consistency of maple syrup, so you can't really mold it like clay. Use a small brush to "paint" the entire outside of your paper model. (work fast... sets up quick!) Apply several coats (let each coat set up in between) You want to build up enough epoxy, so that you have lots of spare material to sand down and sculpt. at least a 1/16th of an inch (couple mm) When you get enough built up on the outside, start adding layers to the inside or bottom of the model. at this point you might want to remove your paper mold. Try wetting it and scrape it out, or just leave it, but it may get in your way later.
At this point you should have a little hunk of plastic that somewhat resembles a car. Start filing the outside and start to shape your Bit shell. Use photos of the car your making for reference. Also, draw lines with a pen or pencil as guides for shaping. For instance: draw the angle of the windshield on the profile of the model or the bumper so you know how far to sand to. You may find you filed something down too far or your shell is getting too thin just add more epoxy and let cure.
At this point you should have a good shape for your car. Now try and make it fit your Bit chassis. Determine where the tabs that hold a shell (one in front one in back) on a chassis go on the inside of your shell and mark them. Also you might need to file out your wheel wells at this point to be able to line up the tabs. Just put the shell on the chassis draw guidelines for the wheels and file down what needs to be in order to make it fit with proper wheel clearance. A Dremel may come in handy for this. You might have to do this several times to get a proper fit. This is still kind of a guessing game at this point, so if you screw up you can always add more epoxy and start over. So everything is lining up a this point; the body fits the chassis and you cut out the tab holes in the shell and you can pop the body on and off just like a real Bit shell...Right?. If not make it fit, make it drivable at this point.
Your car body should fit at this point and should roughly resemble what you're trying to make. Next spray on the primer let dry. At this point you want to draw precise details like: the windows, headlights, doors, etc... You have to do some precise sanding and filing to finish shaping your car. You may choose to cut out the windows and shape the holes and leave them empty or cut out thin plastic pieces later you can glue in for windows. I found it easier to make the side mirrors and glue them on after most of the body was shaped and also cut out the headlights and glued in clear plastic for headlights. To make the bodylines like the seams between doors, hoods, and fenders I drew the lines on and used the tip of a small hobby file and a small nail to cut into the surface. If you screw up you can use Bondo or more epoxy to fill in your mistakes and start again.
Hopefully at this point your car is all smooth and has all the contours and detail you want. I use layers of the lacquer primer to help smooth and define details. Just spray it on sand/file and repeat. final sand your model with like #600 grit sand paper or sanding film and paint/finish with hobby model paint.

I hope this is somewhat helpful for anybody who wants to try this. Remember, there might be something I didn't describe very well and there are other techniques for doing this kind of stuff. It isn't exactly easy, but it was fun for me and it was at least practice for making better Bit bodies in the future. If you try this good luck and I hope you come up with your own kind of process and techniques that work well for you and at least have fun like I did.

Here's my homemade Buick Regal GS Bit shell drying after the final coat of paint. Still need to do some fine detail painting and add the front grill and maybe an exhaust. I'll post a pic when it's totally finished, hopefully with a better camera. :rolleyes:

Well, I'm done...
I'm kind of dissapointed with the way my car turned out. I rushed the final stages of the fine detail painting, but I can always redo it I guess. With the low res of my camera it looks kinda good though!

Great Job man, I admire the hard work you put into that and the fact you stuck with it till the end. Way 2 go.:D

You're being too critical of your own work, I think it looks great. Just think, you're the ONLY one with a '88 Regal coupe!

AJFoot,
Are you crazy?!?!?!
:eek: That's an awesome job, man! I would leave it like it is.

I wish I had just a fraction of your talent & determination!
Congrats! :D

AJFoot that's amazing, since you made the whole thing from scratch!

just wondering, are you gonna make another cars anytime soon?

AJ, that is a relay kool car:kudos. Next u should make like a Corvette or a Porshce, or maybe even a muscle car like a 70 Chevelle or a Duster. I was thinking, u could sell custom bodies over the net, people will prolly pay ALOT of money for a 1 of a kind AJfoot Bit bod (like 50 or 60 bux ((maybe))).

what software
 

great job aj. very original choice and great choice of approach. Could you tell me specifically which 3d program you used, I want to use that flatten feature.

Re: what software
 

I use a beta program original made for the game "The Sims" -it's not publicly available.
There really is no 'flatten out' feature. I pretty much had to flatten it out by hand... sorta.
Here's some links to some free 3D programs that work better and easier than some retail programs>
Anim8tor
Blender
Also there are alot of 3d models of cars available free for download on the net.

More shells!
 

Well, I'm at it again...
I'm working on three new bit bodies. I have two pictured. See if you can guess what they are, even though they are in the rough stages. *Hints* the gray one I think, should be easier to tell what it is from the back angle (If you can tell which end is the back)
If these turn out okay, I'm going to make molds of them and mass-produce. Maybe set up a website and/or try to sell them through my LHS.

Re: More shells!
 

That sounds cool! I'd buy some from you! :D

My guesses: Mustang and Explorer. :)

Re: Re: More shells!
 

Wow! good guess.
It's supposed to be a 65 Mustang Fastback and 2002 Explorer. Hmm... you should win a prize or something. ;)

Great job on the Buick, and I'm sure the Mustang and Explorer will turn out just as cool...

whoa
 

great work... wish i had your skills

Re: Re: Re: More shells!
 

I know... a custom shell made by you! lol!! :D :D :D Just kidding.

Really, it wasn't that hard to guess. The shells "look" right already. I'm thinking that's a big part in getting the final shape right.

Good job (to you).... again! :p

Go
 

your custom cars are very nice.after reading this i thought i will give it a try. i will post some pics when i propely finish it.it looks pretty dumb but o well.
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Making some progress...
I have put more time into this so far than the total time it took me to make that Regal and it's about half done!:eek:
I don't know maybe a Mustang doesn't translate very well into Bit proportions. I think it's starting to look a little too "cute", not very muscle-car-looking.